Kasich did thank KPMG

DAVOS, Switzerland -- There was a noticeable presence here this week for KPMG -- the firm Gov. John Kasich hired to consult on leveraging the Ohio Turnpike.

Aligning the walkway up to one of the poshest hotels (the Belvedere) in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum is a KPMG banner. Kasich hired the Texas-based consultant for $3.4 million to study options for leveraging the turnpike -- Kasich ultimately chose to leave the road as a public entity and bond against it to generate cash for the state's infrastructure projects.

Kasich's aides initially said the governor would not meet with KPMG this week, but Kasich did attend a KPMG reception and "thanked their U.S. and global chairs for their work" on the turnpike, communications director Scott Milburn clarified to The Dispatch on Sunday night.

TERHAR, BROWN, HITLER: In the dust-up over state school board President Debe Terhar's Hitler-referencing Facebook post, some Republicans have pointed to a statement Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown made in 2011 on the Senate floor in which he invoked the names of Hitler and Joseph Stalin as he discussed some GOP governors' efforts to limit collective bargaining for public employees.

Yes, that did happen. And Brown apologized for his remarks. Read an account here.

This posting was changed from its original form to show that U.S. Sen. Rob Portman will not attend the Forum in Davos, as originally planned, and that Kasich did attend a KPMG reception in Davos.

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